Artemis II: What is the mission?

NASA astronauts will soon be headed to the moon and back, marking the first crewed mission towards the moon in more than 50 years.

Artemis II is the latest in a series of space missions with the ultimate goal of landing astronauts on the lunar surface. Right now, Artemis II could launch as early as April 2026.

Here's what to know about the Artemis II mission.

Artemis II: 4,700-mile flight to the moon

Four astronauts – Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Handen — will travel aboard the Orion spacecraft more than 4,000 miles to the moon, fly around the moon, and then head back to Earth.

Trajectory for Artemis II, NASA’s first flight with crew aboard SLS, Orion to pave the way for long-term return to the Moon, missions to Mars. (NASA) 

What’s the goal of Artemis II? 

The overall goal of the Artemis II mission is to test today's systems, capabilities, and technology to send humans into deep space – and to the moon, according to NASA. 

There will also be numerous experiments to test how deep space impacts humans, like ARCHeR to test astronaut activity and sleep patterns, how radiation and microgravity impacts humans, as well as how deep space impacts humans' immune systems.  

How long is the Artemis II mission? 

The mission should take 10 days to complete. 

On their way back home, the spacecraft will use the Earth-moon gravity field, which will enable the crew to be naturally pulled back to Earth, NASA said. This portion of the trip should take about four days. 

FILE - NASA astronauts (left to right) Christina Koch, Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman, Canadian Space Agency Astronaut Jeremy Hansen. (Credit: NASA/Josh Valcarcel)

Artemis III, Artemis IV, and Artemis V

What's next:

The Artemis mission is a series of at least 5 space flights whose goal is to land astronauts on the moon.

Artemis I (November 2020): An uncrewed flight to the lunar service and back to Earth.

Artemis II (Tent. April 2026): A crewed flight to the moon's orbit and back to Earth.

Artemis III (2027): Low-orbit demonstration flights of one or both commercial Landers from Space and Blue Origin. It will also be a crewed mission to test "rendezvous and docking capabilities between Orion and private commercial spacecraft needed to land astronauts on the Moon."

Artemis IV (early 2028): This mission's goal is to land humans on the moon and have them transfer from the Orion spacecraft to a lunar lander. The goal is to figure out whether SpaceX's or Blue Origin's will house the astronauts. Work here will also be to standardize the SLS rocket.

Artemis V (late 2028): A lunar surface mission, as well as the initial building of a "moon base."

NASA said it then envisions yearly launches.